Students at two area high schools are likely to be commended if they are stopped by law enforcement officers while driving Monday.
During "Click It or Ticket" enforcement Monday, officers "will be out in full force, ... cracking down on unbelted motorists and encouraging drivers not to drive distracted," according to the Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety.
Officers are not likely to find offenders among the students at Eugene and Calvary Lutheran high schools. Both recently were honored for 100 percent seat belt use at unscheduled checks during Battle of the Belt campaigns in October.
To put the achievement in perspective, the coalition reports:
• Of the 786 people killed in 2011 crashes, 70 percent were unbelted.
• Overall, 79 percent of Missourians wear seat belts, below the national average of 85 percent.
• Traffic accidents are the leading cause of death for people ages 15-20.
• Three out of four teens killed in 2011 accidents were unbuckled.
• Among Missouri teens, 67 percent wear their seat belts.
Attaining and maintaining 100 percent compliance requires effort.
At Eugene, students in Sharlynn Cochran's speech class created and recorded 30-second public service announcements. "It was fun," Cochran said, "but they really had to think."
At Calvary, the Battle of the Belt campaign dovetailed with goals of the Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) chapter. "It never hurts to have that reminder to buckle up," said Krista Stafford, a past president of the chapter.
Calvary students and educators recognize maintaining superior compliance requires a continuing effort to reach each new class of students. SADD sponsor Denise Crider said: "They've done a good job of creating a culture of expectation that you will be buckled."
A cultural change is precisely what is needed. And a perfect opportunity is encouraging and instructing new drivers that buckling up is as natural and automatic as starting the engine.
If imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, we encourage young motorists to flatter their peers at Eugene and Calvary high schools.